E Retailing in North India A Study Based On Consumer Behavour

Abstract

All businesses are transaction oriented. However, the point of newlinetransaction largely remains retail business. The ever evolving significance newlineof transaction makes retail business extremely significant for any given newlineeconomy. Retail business has evolved considerably over time. The newlineprimitive ways of retail transaction have evolved and after the emergence newlineof computer oriented information technology it has entered a new plane. newlineThe current study focuses on the most modern form of retail newlinebusiness i.e. e-retailing. This form of retailing largely depends on newlinecomputer oriented Information Technology (IT). newlineSince the retailing institutions and practices are evolutionary in newlinenature, much can be learned by studying the history of retailing. Events newlineare not as discontinuous or unique as they sometimes seem. newlineIntroduction newlineAs widely reported, retailers around the globe have recently faced newlineextremely turbulent times, with some long-time firms failing or entering newlinebankruptcy and others facing weak sales and profit performance. newlineHowever, these events are not as unique as they are often reported (see, newlinefor example, Savitt, 1989). newlineRetailing has been changing dramatically as a result of the rising newlinepopularity of discounting, the spread of scrambled merchandising, the newlineemergence of power retailing, aggressive expansion by all types of firms, newlinethe use of leveraged buyouts, the saturation of various trading areas, the newlinerise in non-store sales, greater computerization, the increase in working newline2 newlinewomen, and the entry of more foreign retailers. These factors, and others, newlinehave led to tumultuous times for the industry as a whole. newlineAlthough critiques of retailing have raised legitimate questions newlineabout current practices, they have not adequately recognized that retailing newlinehas always been an evolving field. We should not be surprised or newlinedistressed when certain types of retailing fall into disfavour and others newlineemerge to replace them. Rather, we need to see how and why specific newlineretailing institutions and practices have evolved and where they are newlineheaded and adapt s